A healthy pumpkin soup recipe made by roasting whole fresh pumpkin and has no cream, milk, or stock yet is smooth and creamy. This simple pumpkin soup without stock requires no chopping or boiling. Just roast, blend and enjoy!
About the recipe
Looking for an easy pumpkin soup recipe that does not require cream, stock or a ton of spices? And is delicious and good for you? And most of the cooking is hands-free? This whole roasted pumpkin soup without cream is the perfect solution.
Most importantly, do you think peeling and chopping a pumpkin is too much of a hassle for a simple soup? You’ve reached the right place!
The secret lies in roasting an entire pumpkin with other vegetables until they caramelize, giving the soup a natural sweetness and creamy texture.
With just 114 calories, this vegan pumpkin soup without coconut milk can also help you achieve your weight loss goals faster! It is so full of rich flavors and super easy to cook that it could become your most favorite blender soup for the fall season.
Not a vegan? Me neither. Yet this is my favorite of all healthy soup recipes for its simplicity and richness.
Can you believe that I used just a single spice for this soup? Like how I made the red cabbage soup with potato. For someone who loves spices, that sounds ridiculous. You’ll know that if you had made my lemon coriander chicken soup or black chana soup.
But trust me, that’s all you’ll need to make this dairy-free pumpkin soup FROM SCRATCH!
This whole roasted pumpkin soup is also gluten-free. It is thickened with simple roasted vegetables and garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds to increase its health benefits and fibre content.
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Why is this the best keto pumpkin soup?
Easy – This pumpkin soup without cream uses 6 simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen.
Delicious – Roasting whole pumpkin, bell peppers, onions and garlic deepens the flavors and colors of the vegetables adding an amazing flavor and a lovely orange tint to the soup that can get you addicted.
Healthy – Pumpkin is naturally flavorful and creamy, so you don’t need to add cream or thickeners like flour or cornstarch to give flavor and body to the soup. This is a low calorie, low carb pumpkin soup.
Good for weight loss – Pumpkin is one of the best vegetables to include in your weight loss diet. It is low in calories, sodium, fats, cholesterol, and high in fiber. This is an under-estimated superfood that can help you in your weight loss goals.
Full of fibre and nutrients– Pumpkins with their bright yellow-orange color are rich in the important antioxidant beta-carotene and a ton of nutrients. Its high potassium content makes pumpkin a great post-workout food, even better than bananas.
If you’re impressed and planning to add more healthy pumpkin recipes to your diet, don’t forget to try the pumpkin quinoa salad or mashed pumpkin recipe.
Ingredient notes
Pumpkin (I’ve used Japanese pumpkin here, but any pumpkin is good enough)
Onions, garlic, yellow bell pepper– add flavor, nutrition and body to the soup (healthy alternatives to cream or flour). No chopping, no sauteing- roast and blend them along with the pumpkin. You can also swap orange bell pepper for the yellow, which gives more of an orange color to the soup.
Ground cumin– the spice in this soup that makes all the difference. You won’t really require stock or broth for this recipe, since it already has enough flavors to make you drooling for more!
Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnishing.
How to make roasted pumpkin soup without cream- step by step
(You can find the exact measurements and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this page.)
Roasting a whole pumpkin would take more than an hour and a half. Pepper, garlic and onions would get burnt if cooked for that long. But we want the easier way out: I don’t want to peel and chop the pumpkin. And I want to roast everything together.
Solution? Cut the pumpkin into halves and roast. This way you will be reducing the roasting time to half. The pumpkin gets caramelized since its inner surface is also directly exposed to heat. The other vegetables get perfectly roasted. WIN-WIN!
How to roast a whole pumpkin for soup
First things first, remove the seeds. It would be hard to do once the pumpkin gets cooked. Place cut side down along with whole bell pepper, one large peeled onion and half a garlic pod with heads cut off.
Sprinkle olive oil. Wrap the garlic in foil.
Roast the vegetables at 200°C/ 392°F for 35 to 40 minutes, until the pumpkin is soft. You should be able to pierce with a fork easily.
As soon as you turn off the oven and remove the tray, you’ll have to do 2 things:
- Close the bell pepper with a glass bowl for about 10 minutes. This will steam the pepper, making it easier to peel. Remove the skin and seeds. The pepper will be juicy and falling apart even as you peel. (This is the trick to make the soup extra creamy)
- Spread out pumpkin seeds on a baking tray and leave it inside the warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes depending on how well toasted you want them.
When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh from the pumpkin. Peel the onion to remove the outer dry layer. Squeeze garlic out of the peel.
Dump everything into a blender jar and add salt, pepper and cumin with 2 to 3 cups of water. Blend until smooth.
Adjust water and seasoning as needed. Transfer to soup bowls and heat in the microwave or oven.
Garnish with pumpkin seeds and cilantro. Serve!
Tips to make the best pumpkin soup recipe
Another secret of this recipe lies in the spice, cumin powder. So don’t skip it. Make homemade ground cumin, if possible. Dry roast cumin seeds on very low heat for 2 minutes and grind them in a spice grinder. Store at room temperature in an airtight jar. It stays fresh for months.
I like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes (before blending the soup) for that tinge of spice to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin. (That’s the spice-lover in me talking, sorry about that!) It is a personal preference and completely optional.
There’s another confession I’d like to make 🙂 When I have some leftover chilli pesto in the fridge, I add a dollop of it to this soup. It adds some complexity to the soup (if you’re in the mood for it).
Common questions
Is it better to roast pumpkin for soup?
Roasting pumpkin is the best way to make soup. When you roast pumpkin, you get maximum flavor out of it. In addition, we are roasting pepper, onions and garlic which add to the flavor. Adding salt, pepper and cumin are more than enough to make the soup extra-delicious.
How long to roast pumpkin for soup?
The roasting time depends on the size of the pumpkin. You need to roast a pumpkin weighing 1 kg (2.2 pound) for about 40 minutes. This is when you halve the pumpkin for roasting.
A rough estimate would be: For every 1/4 kg above that, increase the time by 5 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a fork that should easily pierce without resistance.
Can you freeze pumpkin soup?
Pumpkin soups with cream or dairy usually wouldn’t stay fresh for long and they cannot be frozen. This no-cream pumpkin soup can be refrigerated in airtight containers for 4 to 5 days and frozen for about 2 months.
Is pumpkin a healthy vegetable?
Pumpkin is technically a fruit with the nutritional profile of a vegetable. It is a nutrient-dense, fibre-filled low-carb fruit with relatively low calories. It is rich in vitamins (especially vitamins A and C that improve your immune system), minerals and antioxidants like beta-carotene. So long as you eat it in savory foods like soups and stews, you will get maximum health benefits from the pumpkin.(source)
What to serve with this pumpkin soup without stock
- Vegan beet orange salad.
- A vegetarian starter like quinoa patties or potato croquettes.
- Protein- Lemon garlic chicken and potatoes or easy baked chicken legs.
- Seafood- Panko crusted fish or spicy baked fish with mustard or easy baked salmon kabobs.
Looking for more soups?
Simple Lemon Coriander Chicken Soup
Simple Red Cabbage Soup
Black Chana Soup (Kala Chana Soup)
1-pot Easy Chana Dal Soup
Whole roasted pumpkin soup recipe without cream
Ingredients
- 1 kg pumpkin (2.2 pounds) Japanese or any other
- 1 bell pepper/ capsicum medium sized, yellow or orange
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves garlic (or half of a whole garlic pod)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 1/2 cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 392°F.Rinse the pumpkin, cut it in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Place on a baking sheet, cut side down.
- Rinse bell pepper and peel the onion. Cut the head off the garlic. Spray olive oil on the veggies. Wrap garlic in a piece of aluminum foil. Place everything on the baking sheet with the pumpkin.
- Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until you're able to insert a fork into the pumpkin without resistance.
- Spread 4 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds on a baking tray. After you turn off the oven and remove the vegetables, place the tray inside the warm oven. It would take 5 to 10 minutes for the seeds to get toasted.
- As soon as you remove the veggies from the oven, close the bell pepper with a glass bowl for 10 minutes. This would "steam" the pepper, making it juicier and also easier to peel.
- After 10 minutes, remove the skin and seeds from the pepper. Scoop out the flesh from the pumpkin. Peel the outer dry layer from the onion. Squeeze garlic out of the peel.
- Place all the peeled and scooped vegetables into a blender jar. Add 1 teaspoon cumin, salt, pepper and 3 cups of water. Blend until smooth. Add more water as necessary and adjust seasoning.
- Pour into individual soup bowls and heat up in the microwave or oven. Garnish with pumpkin seeds and cilantro.
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Notes
- Optionally, add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a hint of spice.
- Make-ahead option: This pumpkin soup can be refrigerated for 4 days and frozen for 2 months. Refrigerate or freeze in sealed containers and reheat as and when necessary.
- Leftovers: Store leftovers in a sealed container and use within 4 days. Freeze them if you want to store longer.
- This recipe is naturally vegan and gluten-free.
This recipe was initially published in 2019. It has been updated with more pictures and commentary to give you a better experience.
★★★★★Did you try this recipe? Please give a star rating in the comments below ★★★★★
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I didn’t like this recipe because of the taste of it. I put the cumin in like it said but it was bland. It tasted nothing like pumpkin soup. Just tasted like mashed pumpkin I used to cook for my kids when they were babies.
Hi Patricia, thanks for taking the time to comment. It’s unfortunate that the soup did not turn out well for you.
I’m all for complex flavors. But for this pumpkin soup, the cumin, roasted garlic and pepper give the required flavors. Choosing fresh, good-quality vegetables (especially pumpkin) is key to making flavorful pumpkin soup.
You can add red chili flakes if you want a bit of heat. But if you add other spices, they may overpower the flavors of the roasted veggies.
Great pumpkin soup recipe, I add a teaspoon of liquid smoke to my pumpkin soup it gives it a delicious taste, and garnish it with fried bacon pieces toasted pumpkin seeds and spring onions finely chopped for the rest of my family
Hi Darinka, liquid smoke and bacon sound very interesting! Thank you for trying out the recipe!
This looks so creamy and such a great colour.
Thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare
Thank you Helen, happy to hear that!
I love pumpkin soups and I have a favorite recipe of mine.. never tried one with peppers and cumin… You got me, now I have to try yours ! YUM!
Please do, I would love to hear from you!!
Love this golden soup brimming with freshness & flavor.
Happy to hear that you love the soup! Thank you!